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Jesus’ Cruciform Love
in the Gospel of John
TIME:
March 16, 2024 7:00 PM
EVENT DESCRIPTION:
Jesus’ Cruciform Love in the Gospel of John:
Laying Down One’s Life for the Common Good
In the Gospel of John, Jesus commands his followers to love (15:12). One may wonder about this demand since all human beings naturally love something in some way. What is it precisely that Jesus requires his disciples to love and in which way does he desire that they love it? Jesus reveals the answer at the very moment when the hour of his passion and death has arrived (12:23). Through the parable of the grain of wheat that falls into the earth and dies (12:24-25) and through his discourse on the vine and the branches as well as his commandment to love given at the Last Supper (15:1-17), Jesus discloses the precise character of his cruciform love which he commands, namely, that his disciples ought to pursue common goods—such as truth, justice, peace, unity, and most of all, God himself and his “eternal life”—with a “greater love” (15:13) than they have for their private, perishable goods. Such a love “bears much fruit” (12:24; 15:1-8, 16) effects a joy that is full (15:11), and leads to “eternal life” (12:25).
At the beginning of his presentation, Dr. DeMeo will give a brief talk on the International Theological Insitute in Trumau, Austria, where he teaches. This school provides theological and liturgical studies of both the Eastern and the Western Catholic Churches, drawing its students from both. The ITI is under the patronage of the Cardinal Archbishop of Vienna who serves as its Grand Chancellor.
Dr. Vincent P. DeMeo is an associate professor of New Testament and Theology at the ITI Catholic University in Trumau, Austria. He teaches and publishes in the fields of Scripture, Patristics, and biblical foundations to marriage and family theology. His published doctoral dissertation is entitled "Covenantal Kinship in John 13-17: A Historical-Narrative Approach" (Vo1. 22; Rome: Ateneo Pontificio Regina Apostolorum Publishers, 2012). Dr. Scott Hahn served as his dissertation advisor. Among giving lectures and writing several forthcoming articles, he is currently writing a book titled "The Common Good in New Testament and Patristic Thought". He has also taught for Ave Maria University, Florida (Austrian program), Franciscan University of Steubenville, Ohio (Austrian program), Center for the Thought of John Paul II, Poland, Thomas Aquinas College, California, and most recently at The Aquinas Institute, Colorado. Dr. Vincent P. DeMeo is married and the father of four children.
Reception to follow.
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